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For those who live in Milazzo and in the municipalities of the area, taking a plane can turn into a race against time even before arriving at the airport. To reach Catania you have to travel over 100 kilometers of motorway and deal with queues, construction sites and accidents on the ring road; to get to Reggio Calabria you need to go through Messina, with a further change of transport.
It is on these inconveniences that the Fratelli d’Italia council group intervenes, proposing a direct maritime connection between Milazzo and Reggio Calabria to make access to the Strait airport easier. The proposal is contained in a motion, first signatory Roberto Mellina, also signed by Fabiana Bambaci, Rosario Piraino and Mario Sindoni aimed at obtaining a concrete position from the Council and also from the municipal administration. Specifically, the motion commits the Mayor and Council to open a discussion with the Regions of Sicily and Calabria, the Ministry of Infrastructure, the metropolitan cities of Messina and Reggio, the Port Authority, the Harbor Offices, Sacal, Liberty Lines and Atam.
The objective is to identify the competent bodies and verify the sustainability of the connection, evaluating navigation times, costs, demand and availability of vehicles. Among the hypotheses indicated there is a 180-day experiment, with three pairs of daily trips in the time slots useful for flights. The project also includes a free shuttle between the port of Reggio and the airport, through an agreement with Sacal, Atam and the interested bodies. Among the most innovative proposals is the possibility of checking in directly on board the hydrofoil, during the crossing, by agreement with airlines and airport operators.
The councilors also ask for an integrated booking and information system, the use of the port moorings already available and the involvement of the municipalities of the district to organize interchange parking and connections to Milazzo. The FdI group, recalling that in 2025 the port of Milazzo recorded over 1.1 million scheduled passengers, while the airport of Reggio Calabria exceeded 977 thousand travellers, with an increase of 56.7% compared to 2024, asks “to start the investigation and define an economic plan, identifying costs, revenues and any public resources”. There is no doubt that the challenge of transforming a connection idea into a concrete opportunity for the territory is interesting even if to be honest it is easy to understand that realizing it will not be easy.
In all cases it could be possible – but here the will should primarily be that of the regional government to facilitate Milazzo and the Aeolian Islands – to strengthen the current connections to Catania and Messina guaranteed by Giuntabus and other private companies, ensuring that the service is more continuous, and perhaps extending it directly to Reggio airport with the provision of specific resources. Otherwise it will be difficult also because until now the various companies have organized services and timetables on the basis of their own profit assessments. Another important step: if you really want to focus on Reggio airport, you also need to strengthen the flight offer. And here the discussion goes beyond local politics.
The direct connection could require about an hour of navigation, to which add half an hour to reach Reggio airport: in total about 90-100 minutes. However, these are estimates which still need to be verified as part of the feasibility study.